SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Assembly Member Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) introduced the California State Fur Ban, AB 44, to prohibit the sale and manufacture of new fur products throughout the state of California. The bill’s sponsor, Animal Hope in Legislation, led the recent Los Angeles Fur Ban. The bill is also sponsored by The Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation and The Humane Society. California would be the first state in the nation to have such a measure in place.
“California is one of the most progressive states in the country and a world leader in animal welfare,” said Assembly Member Friedman. “Given the overwhelming evidence of inhumane practices in the fur industry and the availability of so many different options for warm and fashionable fabrics, we will not continue to be complicit in unnecessary cruelty towards animals solely for the sake of fur.”
Several cities across California already have similar bans in place. West Hollywood, Berkeley, and San Francisco have outlawed the sale of fur in their cities. Earlier this year, Los Angeles unanimously passed a motion in favor of a similar measure.
More than a dozen European countries have full or partial bans on fur farming. Many major fashion houses have decided to part with animal fur, including Gucci, Versace, Coach, and Burberry. Technology in fashion is ever evolving and becoming more green, more efficient, and more innovative. Fur, however, requires the inherently cruel confining or trapping of animals solely for their fur, which must then be preserved with toxic chemicals.
AB 44 would make it unlawful to manufacture, sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, give, donate or otherwise distribute a fur product in the state. The bill exempts certain items, including used fur. The prohibition would apply to items such as clothing, handbags, shoes, slippers, hats, or key chains that contain fur and provides for a civil penalty for each violation.
The fur industry’s main farmed species are wild animals who are kept in small wire cages and are then subjected to cruel killing methods that are not regulated by the humane slaughter laws.
“Going undercover into fur farms, I have seen the suffering and inhumane treatment of these animals firsthand,” said Marc Ching, Founder of The Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation and Animal Hope in Legislation. “As a culture, a people, and a community grounded in compassion, California is ready to go fur-free. Products that encompass such suffering have no place here.”